The Shade Master
by faux13
Summary: !DISCONTINUED! The world of Danny Phantom has been taken over by a powerful ghost by the name of The Shade Master; Danny is part of the ghost rebellion. Better sum in my profile. Pre-PP. Rated for minor language.
1. Chapter 1: A meeting at HQ

SUM: The world of Danny Phantom has been taken over by a powerful ghost by the name of The Shade Master; Danny is part of the ghost rebellion. Better sum in my profile. Pre-PP. Rated for minor launguage.

Chapter 1: A meeting at HQ

Danny strode through the streets of wreckage, face hidden by a black hoodie, with his stark white hair peeking out of it, and the green glow of his eyes almost penetrating it.

What use to be Amity Park was now a city of rubble, buildings had collapsed, the streets were littered with abandoned cars, and a gloomy grey sky hung above the ruins.

Phantom was enraged about it all, of course. This was his home, the place he had worked so hard to protect, and now it was gone. A heap of rubble. Just about everything had been destroyed, some gaping holes on the side of buildings even still had bubbling edges smoking with green ectoplasm.

As he walked past the Nasty Burger, he couldn't suppress the feeling of deep depression that engulfed him like an ocean of cold water. He could recall the things that went on here way back when as if it where yesterday. Danny found himself longing for his ghost-hunting days, Tucker and Sam at his side.

He stuck his pockets a little deeper into his jeans. It felt weird to be in his ghost form and wearing normal clothes at the same time.

Of course, nowadays it was favorable to just stay as Danny Phantom all the time. If there was a raid, or a fight, or both, he couldn't risk any time by being Fenton. They would attack while he was transforming, that was one of his weak spots.

'Speaking of weak spots,' he thought, 'why do they always have to grab me by the throat?'  
>About a week ago there had been a particually nasty battle, where 30 or so of Shade's minions had ambushed Danny while he was alone. Help came just in time, but not before one of them had gotten its hands around Danny's neck. It had almost completely crushed his windpipe, and the experience had thoroughly shaken him. Those things were evil. Pure evil.<p>

Finally, he arrived at his destination.

Fenton Works loomed over him. It had only sustained minor damage when the minions came and destroyed everything, since it had a ghost shield, so now it was the headquarters of the Spiritual Resistance, the ghost rebellion. It was an ideal center of operation, it had rooms the few humans could sleep in, a supply of emergency rations, and a wicked ghost lab.

Danny smiled grimly at the thought of his parent's reaction if they knew that ghosts were inhabiting their house, building weapons and strategizing their next move against The Master.

Hoping for a breakthrough, Phantom opened the door and walked inside.

"Anything to report?"

"Nothing." Danny replied. "Totally silent."

The Ghost Writer sighed. "Drat. He ordered his forces to retreat… But he hasn't surrendered, and he hasn't won yet, either…"

The meeting had started. Many ghosts and a few humans were sitting on chairs scattered around the lab, and the Ghost Writer was standing before them all, in front of several possible battle plans taped to the wall. Thankfully, Danny was sitting beside Sam, so his sanity remained intact, for the most part. Tucker, however, somehow got stuck next to Skulker a little ways away. Although he paid him no mind as he lounged in the chair, glancing at Ember every minute or two, Tucker was still sweating and shooting Danny pleading looks.

The Ghost Writer fiddled with his scarf. "If you'd all please direct your attention to this plan of action"- he pointed at one of the papers on the wall "Er, no, maybe this one… Wait, never mind. I believe I have it here somewhere…" He ruffled a large pile of papers on a desk next to him.

'How they heck have we survived so long?' Danny thought. 'We should've gotten captured or killed months ago.'

He remembered the humans, and his heart sank. Amity Park had been completely evacuated at the first attack, all the humans (except for Tucker, Sam, Jazz, half of himself, and half of Dani) had left and there had been no trace of them since. According to some traveling spirits that had been willing to provide information, they had started up their own rebellion. Danny knew the humans would never trust the ghosts, and vice versa, so they were probably better off without them, but all he could think was 'I never told my parents. I never said goodbye. They have no idea what happened to their kids.'

Ember stuck her hand in the air, getting the Ghost Writer's Attention.

"You have a question?"

"Um, yeah." She blew out a bubble of aqua chewing gum. "You're the Ghost Writer, right?"

"Correct."

"Can't you, like, spin around and then make a magical keyboard appear out of nowhere? Why don't you just write the ending of the war and have us win?"  
>They were some murmurs of agreement throughout the group. The ghost Writer let out an exasperated sigh.<p>

"I believe I've explained this before. Powerful energy is a foot. I doubt even Clockwork would be able to help… god knows where he his in all of this. Anyway, any ghost power that can change the events of the future and manipulate the universe have been rendered useless. If my keyboard was still intact-" He shot Danny a look of loathing, which he ignored. "It wouldn't have any effect. If it did, I would have built a new one months ago. Either that, or one of could just have wished the war away and Desiree could have simply granted it."

Skulker chose this moment to stand up leisurely and wave the Ghost Writer away. "Well, now that the Ghost Author's-"

"Ghost Writer!" he hissed.

"Yeah, yeah. Now that he's done, we can move on with this blasted effort. Personally, I think we're all doomed if we keep this up, and we should just ditch the humans or join Shade, but some people seem to be against that." Anyway," Skulker said, taking his place in front of the crowd as the Ghost Writer took a seat, looking extremely disgruntled. "We've come a long way, in terms of allies. You all probably know by now that Walker joined us a while ago after his prison was busted open- hence, the Ghost Writer here with us today- but some of the more powerful ghosts have gone over or have been overpowered. They're some rumors going around that some of Shade's minions attacked and defeated Frostbite a couple days ago, but that's yet to be confirmed. There had also been some sightings of Lydia, and some talk that Freakshow managed to escape the Guys in White when the war started. Again, we're not sure if that's true or not, But speaking of humans…" His eyes fell on Sam and Danny before he continued. "Their rebellion has been making progress, as well. As some of you know, they formed about a month after the rubble cleared, and have been tussling with the Spiritual Resistance ever since. Apparently, they think that we're working for The Master, and they seem to not understand what 'resistance' means. Idiots…" he muttered.

Sam shot Danny a look. Her eyebrows were raised in an offended manner. Danny returned it, for the most part, but neither of them said anything. Both of their parents were in the human rebellion.

"That's all I got. Meeting adjourned!"

"That was pointless."

Sam, Tucker and Danny had made tracks when the meeting had ended. They were now lounging in Danny's room, Sam in a chair, Tucker on the bed, and Phantom floating a little ways near the ceiling. It was a moment before Tucker replied to Sam's statement.

"I dunno, Sam. Do you really think Frostbite's captured?"

Danny rolled around in midair. "I don't think so. Frostbite and his people are pretty powerful. Forget him, what if Freakshow's back?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Danny. You broke his scepter and the reality gauntlet is ashes. I don't think he's much of a threat."

"Maybe he found a new way to control ghosts." Tucker said thoughtfully.

"But would it work? Ghost Writer said that some powers- maybe even objects- don't work anymore." Danny pointed out.

Sam mulled that over. "You guys _do_ have a point. It's just… kinda scary to know that this Shade guy might be more powerful than Clockwork."

"Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you guys," Tucker said, eyes lighting up. "I've been doing some research on him. For the resistance, actually, but I haven't found out enough to tell everyone yet…"

"Spill, it man." Danny and Sam prompted him.

Tucker chuckled at them speaking in unison. "Okay, okay. Hold you horses. Like I said, I haven't found out that much. I do know this: he's Pariah Dark's son.

"No freaking way!" said Sam, gaping.

"Way. According to the few- very few, might I add- stories and legends about him, he's a sorcerer of some sort."

"Are you telling me that the greatest enemy in this war is a wizard?" Sam snickered.

Danny laughed at Sam's remark, but then his brow furrowed. "That makes sense, though. It could explain why all those universe-altering ghost stuff isn't working; he could've cast a spell or something."

"Exactly." Tucker nodded. "But still, a spell so big that it incases both the real world and the ghost zone would take a pretty powerful wizard. Er, sorcerer."

"Well, the whole father Pariah/ son Shade thing makes sense if you take into account that he's using Pariah's castle as an HQ. And because he had an army of those damn skeletons. Which reminds me, have they awakened the Fright Knight, do ya know?"

Tucker sighed. "I'm not sure, but probably. Back on topic, no one's seen him since around 1200 AD."

"But now, he's woken up and declared war on the world as we know it. Starting with beautiful Amity." Danny said bitterly.

Sam looked up at him sympathetically, running a hand through her ebony hair.

There was a loud knock at the door, and all of them jumped. Through the wood, the muffled voice of Skulker could be heard.

"Get back on patrol, whelp!"

**A/N: GAHHHHHHHHH I AM A SPAZZZZZZZ. If you like, please review. I need motovation, people!**

**I really love this general idea. I wanted to write somthing about the ghost ACTUALLY WORKING TOGETHER. And yes, Ghost Writer is back.**

**Just a small matter to clear up with Dani: Dani WAS stabilized in the episode D-Stabilized, so it's post that episode, excpet Valerie doesn't know that Masters and Plasmius are the same person, kay? Kay.**

**As you can see, I left a heck of a lot of room for more. Uh, the premises is kinda summed up in this chap, but the story is yet to emerge.**

**Maybe I should just scrap this...**


	2. Chapter 2: Capture

**A/N: AHAHAHAHAH! OK, I didn't scrap this, after all. REEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAD! READ 'TILL YOUR EYEBALLS ARE FREAKING SORE!**

**Disclaimer: FOR THIS ENTIRE STORY, I do not own Danny Phantom and all related characteres.**

Chapter 2: Capture

Danny Phantom floated lazily through the sky of Amity Park, invisible. It was almost dusk, and some of the clouds in the sky had disappeared, so the first night stars were visible against the blood red of the sunset.

It would've been very beautiful if it hadn't been so depressing.

Wind stirred up dust and small debris. The streets were filled with an unnerving silence that seemed even louder than noise. Danny studied the buildings and paths, the rubble on the roads, with a sad interest. He'd been on patrol since a month after the war started, and nothing ever really changed, but this time something was different. Something wasn't like it was earlier today. He couldn't tell if it was bad or not, but still, it was slightly creepy. Like the feeling that you're being watched.

He sighed a sigh that no one could hear, what with being high above the town, and figured that he was just being paranoid. Amity had been deserted for months now, and besides, he was invisible. Nothing could be watching him.

Oh, how very wrong he was.

There was a FZZZZZZZZZZZT noise as a gun fired. An ecto-ray, no doubt. Its beam whizzed through the air so fast his eyes only perceived a deadly green blur passing so close to him it ruffled his hair and warmed the side of cheek. Although he was momentarily stunned, he quickly collected himself and looked around wildly. He couldn't see where it had come from.

One thought lodged in his brain: Get away.

Legs transforming into a squiggly tail, Danny shoot upwards another fifty feet, then rocketed to his left. He couldn't mindlessly lead whatever was firing at him to the Resistance HQ; they could be working for Shade.

Another shot rang out; this one was different than the first. Instead of a bright fizzling beam of green energy, this one was bright blue, and it was more of a shining azure jet.

It was also just a tad slower than the first, Danny dodged it (but still with some effort- the power radiating off of it was oddly nauseating) and swirled around, again trying to locate his attacker. He thought he saw a small blur of red and black duck behind a building that wasn't demolished, but then something happened.

The strange nauseating feeling came back, like he was about to throw up, but it was getting stronger every millisecond, and the strange power seemed to be coming form behind him.

With a thrill of horror, he spun round, only to be caught squarely in the chest by the blue beam. As the energy sparked up his body, it made him weak, and he returned to visibility. Actually, that weak feeling was growing… and growing… but how had it hit him?

As he tumbled to the earth, a flurry of thoughts fought for attention in his foggy brain:

That ray must've been heat-seeking or something! That's how it hit me, it just turned around! Wait, what the- oh, brilliant. I bet it's also a tranquilizer. Whoopee. At least I don't seem to be transforming… that ground looks hard…

Danny struggled to keep himself afloat, but the weird drugged feeling only permitted him to slow himself down every couple of seconds. This made it so that at least he wasn't going to hit the ground at full force, but still, it would be painful.

Luckily for him, he was out before his body made contact with the asphalt.

"Get up, spook!"

Danny just groaned. His ribs ached, were they broken…? Thank god he hadn't landed on his head. But now he seemed to be lying face-up on a hard, rough surface… pavement, a road. His mind came into focus a little more, just enough to register two things: The inside of his eyelids, and the sick feeling that still lingered.

Almost grunting from the effort, he opened his eyes, and as his vision cleared and the world stopped spinning, he saw who was looming over him.

Wearing her red and black suit, gun pointed firmly at his head, was Valerie Grey.

The pain seemed to vanish as total shock overtook his system. His was too stunned to say anything, and at first too perplexed to think or comprehend, but he eventually registered the fact that Valerie was here. For real. Six months had passed; she had survived that long…

Then, were there other humans alive as well…? God, he sure hoped so.

"V-Valerie? What-" He cut off in mid-sentence as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He hadn't noticed it, but he had been attempting to sit up in order to see her better, and his body didn't like that. Moaning, he slumped back to the ground. Sleep sounded like a wonderful idea, but apparently Valerie thought otherwise.

"I said, _get up_!" She jerked the gun skywards for emphasis.

"Okay, okay…" Danny mumbled. His emotions were torn at the moment; it was great to know the Valerie was alive and (mostly) well, but he had to remind himself that in his current form, Valerie was an enemy. He was in trouble.

Danny once again attempted to stand, propping himself up by his elbows, but a swooshing sensation made them slip. His vision went dark and blurry, and for a moment it seemed as though he was going to pass out again.

"I-I can't…"

Valerie glared at him, and then sighed. "I guess that weapon was just a smidge too powerful… not that I care about your health. Of course, you could just be lying…"

"I'm not!" Danny spat back defiantly. It was incredibly annoying to be in pain and having someone question whether or not it actually hurt.

"Watch your tongue, spook. Alright, you're coming with me. Got that?"

"I don't think so!"

"And what will you do to stop me?" Danny could see Valerie's gloating smirk beneath her mask, her eyes said it all. Phantom was helpless at the moment.

She bent down and flipped him onto his stomach abruptly and roughly (producing a grunt and a wince from Danny) and grabbed both his wrists, yanking them together behind his back.

Phantom could hear a shuffling noise behind him as one of Valerie's hands retreated, like she was searching around in her pockets or backpack. As Danny eyed the pavement, he briefly considered shaking her off and making a break for it- this was definitely a situation worth panic- but her hand was like a vice grip; he was sure that if he had circulation it would be cut off by now. Even if he could get her off him, he still wasn't sure if he could stand. Crashing onto a road will do that to you.

As Phantom's mind desperately ran through possible means of escape, he felt something rough and scratchy being placed on his wrists. A rope, an old one.

"Oh, C'mon!" He hissed under his breath. He tried phasing, and then an ecto-blast, but nothing seemed to be working.

"Don't try and struggle, scum. That gun was designed to short-circuit your powers and knock you out… but that second feature seems a bit faulty. Don't worry, they'll come back," She added, feeling Danny go still with fear, "But in the meantime, this rope will do the trick. I've had for a while, I hope you don't mind." She said with sinister sweetness.

Phantom could feel himself sweating, had he really gone down with barely any fight? And now he was being captured by Valerie. Swell. Just swell.

Danny couldn't keep in a grimace as she tightened the bonds one last time, digging the scratchy rope into his wrists, binding them together. He could almost imagine a greenish dim glow to them that was keeping his powers at bay, and he was certain they would be covered in ectoplasmic blood and raw within minutes.

Grabbing the back of his shirt, she pulled him none too gently to his feet. Danny took a sharp intake of breath when his torso bent, and another tidal wave of dizziness hit him once he was standing. His vision swam, and he felt himself leaning on a not-very-happy-looking Valerie. Once it had cleared, however, he realized that his legs could more or less support him. Armed with this information, Danny gathered his strength for a last-ditch (and really quite desperate) effort to lose Valerie.

Bending down and shifting his weight, he somehow managed a sweeping kick that connected with Valerie's ankles and knocked her off her feet. The only problem was that her hand had shot out and grabbed his bonds as soon as she realized what was going on.

Danny tried to pull away, but that proved only to help Valerie as she relentlessly used him to pull herself back to her feet. "You'll pay for that, spook!"

Phantom was about to snarl some sarcastic quip back at her when Valerie jabbed three of her fingers into his injured ribcage.

He hissed in pain and hunched his shoulders, shuddering. It felt as though a rusty dagger was being thrust into his side, pressure on his ribs was brutal.

"Don't like that, do you?" Valerie smirked. Phantom glared. At the moment, he was reminded of all the close calls he had had with her before the war started. His frown melted off his face as that memory sparked thoughts of all the going-ons of less than a year ago… But that cloud wait. Never mind his misery; there might be other humans alive! Valerie couldn't have survived this long alone, could've she…?

Misreading his look of depression and then determination, Valerie spat in Danny face "Oh, you're not escaping me this time, spook." She tightened her hold on his bonds, and then withdrew a gun from her backpack. Danny immediately tensed as she thrust it into his back, and commanded "Walk. If you don't, fine, I'll just try out this shiny new toy."

Danny's deduction overwhelmed his anger at her last statement. _'Shiny new toy…?'_ Where the hell would she get a new gun in the midst of an apocalypse?

Shoving that thought aside, he begrudgingly complied to follow Valerie's order. Trying to retain his pride and keep a cool head, he trudged through the wreckage and rubble- towards the opposite direction of Fenton Works.

Speaking of Fenton Works…

'Aw, god…" Danny thought. 'The guys are gonna kill me for this.'

**A/N: Poor freaking Danny! Eh, I had to keep as Phantom for this entire time... Actually, you won't be seeing much of Fenton in this fic. Um, or maybe you will, I haven't written that far ;-; **

**Yay for Danny going all Sherlock on Valerie. Speaking of Val, she's a reeeeaaaallllly fun char to write about. **

**Annnnnnd next chapter might take a while. I have two other actual stories that I've been working on... I'll try for a week, maybe two, even three. **

**I'm out of things to say. REVIEW IF YA WANNA SEE MORE! Peace :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Old Friends

**A/N: *cocks head sideways* Super early update SAYWHATNOW?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Danny phantom or any related characters.**

Chapter 3: Old Friends

Valerie and Danny trekked farther and farther away from the HQ. The passed Casper High, The Nasty Burger, and were soon almost out of Amity Part altogether. This unnerved Phantom and all he could think about was how he should be back by now. The sun had started to go down, the blood red sky was being slowly transformed into a blanket of darkness, twinkling stars smiling cheerfully even though the situation was desperate.

Valerie somehow kept up a steady and quick pace- one hand tugging Danny along by his bonds and the other jabbing a gun into his back- while Phantom stumbled over what seemed like endless ruins and rubble. The rope that clung to his writs was definitely getting painful now, and he was only a little surprised when he felt a liquid slowly oozing through them. Ectoplasm- the blood of a ghost. He was also pretty certain that whatever drug Valerie had used on him had worn off by now- but like she had said, the rope was indeed ghost proof. Every time he attempted something that required his powers (and he _was_ trying his hardest, as he had no desire to go wherever Valerie wished him to) it had absolutely no effect- Danny felt as defenseless and a human simply trapped in a ghost form. Not that he had tried to transform, now was _not_ the time and place to reveal his identity to Valerie.

Speaking of reveling, he felt downright lucky that he hadn't transformed when he had fallen out of the sky. That would've been awkward. His ribs still ached, but they seemed to be healing- thank god ghost-powers came with the side effect of speedy recovery.

As they passed a sign that read 'Now Leaving Amity Park- Come Back Soon!' he couldn't help but glance hopelessly over his shoulder. This didn't go unnoticed by Valerie, however.

"Cool your jets, Phantom. It's just in the next town over." She fumbled around for a bit, trying to put the gun back in her bag without losing hold of Danny. Unfortunately for him, she eventually succeeded, and when her hand reappeared it was now clutching a standard black flashlight. Valerie squeezed the handle, and it cast a yellow beam around them as the last light from the sun vanished in the distance.

Danny's concern only increased at her words. First for his friends: He was definitely supposed to be back by now. Maybe they would come looking for him…? But then, if they found him as Valerie's prisoner, what would they do to her? He knew that many of the ghosts despised humans, mainly for working against them, and they would be all too happy to see Valerie's demise. He didn't exactly like that outcome.

'On the other hand,' his mind said as his thoughts strayed to his personal safety, 'there's no way that Valerie wants me for something that I'll think is fine.' He knew all too well that Valerie didn't have a problem with torturing ghosts, and he had a feeling as eerie as the silence hanging over what seemed like the world that that was just what she had in store for him. Call him morbid, but if it was any different, why didn't she just finish him off when she had the chance?

"C'mon, hurry up," She grunted, abruptly yanking Phantom closer to her. "Spooks come out to play at night. If we meet any, I'm not protecting you…"

Despite the burning fatigue in his legs from walking for so long and his fear of coming pain, he snorted. Like _he_ would need protecting. If anything, Valerie would get herself hurt and Phantom could make his escape. In fact, he almost felt himself longing for the chance, but then he reminded himself that an encounter with some of Shade's minions would _not_ prove a good experience. They could both get killed.

As they passed a second sign ('Now entering: Sereneton') Danny stood up straighter, not wanting to show any kind of weakness to Valerie. He had gotten over his injury for the most part, and yeah, he wanted nothing more than to find a bed and pass out after all this walking, but he pushed it aside and decided it was high time for the witty-superhero strategy. If it didn't work, at least it would entertain him.

The boredom of silence would kill him sooner or later.

Trying not to show his struggle keeping up with her brisk pace, he said slyly "Gee, Val, I sure am sorry. I just kinda fell a hundred feet onto pavement and then was promptly dragged through the ghost of my town by a crazed spirit-hunter, but I'm sure your problems are bigger."

Valerie gave him a death glare. "Don't question what ya don't know, spook."

"Kay. I'll never question math again." He answered with a cocky grin.

Valerie rolled her eyes and proceeded to increase the speed of her pace. Danny was now stumbling and cursing and tripping all over himself, his cheeky side had disappeared after he stubbed his toe on he road for the third time.

After about fifty yards of muttering swearwords under his breath, he finally asked "Look, can't you just take these off and re-tie them in the front?"

Valerie whipped around snarled in his face "Just _how_ stupid do ya think I am, ecto-scum?"

Danny instinctively tried to take a step back from her, but her hand was still gripping the peace of rope binding his wrist behind his back. When he tried to pull away, she just yanked him back and hissed "Like I said, _you're not going anywhere_."

Danny cocked his head in confusion. "What-"

"Don't play dumb! You think I'll just untie your bonds so you can fly right out of here? As if!"

Danny blinked. Escape hadn't been his intention at all; he just wanted the journey to be easier. With an inner facepalm, he scolded himself for being so stupid. How could he think of ethics at a time like this? Brawn was not going to help in this, brains were really his only option at this point, and that probably meant that a dirty trick was necessary.

"I'm not as dim-witted as you might think, you know."

"Coulda fooled me," Danny muttered as she glowered at him. "Where are we going, exactly?"

Resuming her brutally quick pace, she spat "That's really none of you business-"

"Actually, it _is_ my business," Danny said as he tried to re-gain his footing (Valerie was almost dragging him now) "because this _does_ concern me. I'm getting kid/ghostnapped, here, it's not a very enjoyable experience, you know."

"We're here."

"And another thi- wait, what?"

"We're here, spook."

Valerie and Phantom had come to an abrupt halt in front of a dingy apartment building, about 5 stories high and made out of old bricks. A dim light shone from one of the windows on the second floor up, and Danny almost thought that he heard voices inside.

Hope skyrocketed through his chest. People. Were. Alive. Those three words played rapidly over and over in his brain as a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. It was so relieving to know that more humans had actually survived, as opposed to being isolated with mainly ghosts for company for about 6 months.

And then as his glee peaked, he was suddenly overtaken by a massive feeling of dread. He didn't know exactly who was in that building, or what they knew… what if they told him his parents were dead or something? But if not, then what would happen if he met them in this form? He honestly didn't know what he'd do if either happened. Forget that, there were probably ghost hunters in that building. He was almost certain that they wouldn't be too caring when they saw him… a paranoid part of Phantom's mind was urgently whispering words such as 'dissection' and 'experimentation'. He wondered vaguely if Tucker's phobia of all things medical was contagious.

It didn't matter, he decided. He _had_ to go in. Well… it wasn't as though he had a choice.

Valerie marched up the stone steps with no consent for Danny's legs, him trying to climb stairs sideways and failing. She stopped on the porch like she knew exactly what she was doing, and knocked on the door while Phantom couldn't help but watch, interested. First a sharp, loud knock, then a pause, followed by 3 fast and equally noisy ones. This, Danny realized, must have been some sort of secret way to identify who wanted to come in.

There was a sudden hush among the incoherent whispers. Then they started back up again, getting louder and louder and mangled with the sound several footsteps pounding against hardwood.

The door was thrown open.

"Val! We thought something bad hap-"

Then Dash Baxter and Danny's Phantom eyes met, and each pair widened.

"Oh, _brilliant_." Danny muttered.

**A/N: Ha! Early update is another bleeping cliffy! And... ENTER DASH! MWAHAHAHAHAH!**

**I'm pretty proud of this chapter, It's longer than the other ones. But still kinda short... ah, well. Whatevs.**

**Yeah... SOME of the story is gonna take place is Sereneton, the next town over from Amity Park.**

**(And if you're wondering why this story is Danny F. and Vlad M., he comes in SOON! I promise!)**

**As usual, REVIEW IF YA WANT MOAR! ...please?**

**Kay thanks BYE! :D**


	4. Chapter 4: Kid's Club

**Disclaimer: Danny Phantom and all related characters are not mine.**

Chapter 4: Kid's Club

If you ever found yourself in a situation similar to Danny's (which you probably haven't), you'd know that things can get really awkward when captured by one of your enemies and then taken to their base.

Turns out, there were no adults in the building. At least, Phantom didn't see any.

The moment Dash had seen him he immediately lighted up with a storm of questions. Valerie shooed them away, however, and told Dash to go to the kitchen, where everyone was supposedly already there for dinner and where she would explain. Dash had shot Danny a truly perplexed look, then scampered away while Valerie lugged Phantom through the door and into the bid rectangular room where he was now: Dingy, like the building's outside, but clearly some sort of foyer or lobby. There was an administrative desk in the far corner, next to an elevator and another door (which must've lead to the kitchen, because that's the one Dash went into). Several of the walls were lined with ugly abstract mustard yellow paintings, which didn't go very well with the plain dark grey and chipped walls or the fuzzy brown rug. There were also mismatched chairs scattered in the corner opposite to the desk, one of which she slammed Danny into before extracting more rope from her backpack and securing Phantom tightly without any consent for his comfort. She then cut the previous bonds that were soaked in ectoplasmic blood and looked at them like they were dog shit. Danny didn't know whether or not to be offended by that.

So he was now tied to a rickety chair, in a messy old lobby with crappy lighting, trying his hardest to listen and make sense of the muffled voices coming from the kitchen. There were more than 10, that much he could tell, but none of them struck him as really familiar, as, for the most part, they were all mangled and garbled together as everyone apparently asked Valerie millions of questions.

Phantom let out a long sigh, preparing himself for the worst. There were so many ways this could go to the dogs in just a matter of seconds. His parents and/or crazed scientists walking in were way up there with an axe-murderer and The Shade Master himself.

A few more minutes passed. The pack of voices had fallen silent, and now there was just one voice, talking and talking, that seemed to be telling some sort of story. 'That must be Valerie…' Danny thought as he listened even harder. There were gasps at times, at one point a particularly high-pitched shriek rang out, and once, even some nervous laughter. It was very unnerving to listen to incoherent voices of people who you knew were speaking about you, and at the same time you're wondering when they'll actually talk to you in person, and you suspect that pain will accompany them. It's not a very nice feeling.

About half an hour later, just when Phantom was figuring out that it was indeed possible to nod off in a chair, the kitchen door swung open.

Through the doorway marched Valerie, hands on her hips, hood pulled back so he could see her long black hair and grey-green eyes. She was looking very serious and stern, not at all like the 20 or so kids who followed her out.

Danny only gaped as the bunch of kids finally revealed themselves. Most were shorter than Valerie, some of them couldn't have been older than 10! They were all wearing ratty and dirty clothes; some of the taller and older kids had even found extra uniforms for the apartment building somewhere and were sporting nametags that clearly weren't theirs. Most had their hair uncombed and faces smudged with grime, and they regarded Danny with unsurprised (thanks to Valerie's explanation) but tense expressions. It was really very sad.

Danny actually wasn't paying that much attention to the crowd anymore,though. He was barely over the initial shock of seeing a group of kids roughly the size of a small class waltz into the lobby when Valerie had took a standing position in front of him, wearing a slightly smug smile now, and blocking most of his view. All he could do now was glare at the red-and-black-clad huntress as she grinned all-knowingly at him, hands still on her hips in a superior fashion.

He realized he must've looked kinda pathetic. He knew of some small scratches on his face from the fall, he was certain it was covered in dust and dirt as well, and, cleanliness aside, it is awfully difficult to appear strong and defiant while tied to a chair with blood still oozing from your wrists after previous bonds, black hoodie slung around your body in an awkward way.

Yep, things were looking pretty bad.

Even with Valerie's menacing shadow looming over him, he could still partially make out what going on with the kids. He could see some of the older kids, about 15 or 16, leading the younger ones into the elevator with a distinctive _ding_. Some of the other kids (about his age, Danny was sure) stayed behind, and Phantom could see them in his peripherals as they either leaned against one of the walls or sat down with more chairs that they had brought in from the kitchen. Danny didn't catch most of their details, however, as he still had his cautious yet irked gaze on Valerie.

Once the gentle hum of the elevator taking kids up to higher floor had faded, Valerie crossed her arms in front of her and said "So."

"So what?" Phantom shot back before he could stop himself.

This earned him a deathly look from Valerie. "Why you little-!" She seethed. Leaning in way past the boundaries of personal space, Valerie's hand shot of and seized the front of Danny's hoodie. This only really pulled him a few inches closer to her, though, as he was fettered to the chair so tightly. Still, he tried in vain to resist as her face came uncomfortably close to his. "Give me a reason to shoot you, Phantom, because I swear I _will_."

"_Valerie,_" a kid against the wall kid warned. Danny's eyes immediately snapped towards him.

He was relatively tall, maybe the same age as Danny or a year younger, with narrowed Hazel eyes that bored right into both Phantom and the huntress that appeared to be uninterested yet willing to intervene. He too adorned the ragged, faded clothing that so many of the youths donned and his light brown hair was spiky and unkempt, but in a cool sort of way, if that was possible. He looked like one of those easy-going mellow kids who never did their homework at school.

Phantom took a second to recuperate from shock before asking sheepishly "And… you are?"

The kid shrugged and said "It's Anthony, man. But I think it's lame, so people call me Tony."

Danny was kind of weirded out by Tony's calmness. Seriously, they were in the middle of a war, and here this kid was, looking and acting as if he were just at a boring party. Phantom wondered if it was just an act, but Tony looked sincere…

"Great," (Danny's eyes flicked back to Valerie when she spoke) "now that you two are acquainted, can we get on with this, please?" Her tone was exasperated and irked.

Tony put his hands up like he was surrendering, but the tired and tranquil look in his eyes never left, and neither did his uninterested expression. "Sorry, Val. He asked, I answered."

"How come I've never seen you before?" Phantom blurted.

Valerie looked ready to gouge out his eyeballs out from speaking without permission, but this went unnoticed by Danny, whose sole attention was on Tony as he leaned back against the wall and said "Dude, I'm not from Amity Town, I live in Sereneton."

"It's Amity Park," Danny corrected. Turning to the other kids accompanying Valerie (well, almost all of them, since one had inconveniently decided to stand a little ways behind Phantom's chair), he asked "Do all come from Sereneton?"  
>He got a mixture of shy, quiet responses ('Yeah', 'Uh-huh', 'Mmm') before Valerie just went and answered for all of them. "Of course, spook. Well, except for Dash and a couple others. Wait…" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You didn't hear about Casper High?"<p>

Danny's eyes widened. He _hadn't_ hadheard. What was she talking about? Danny had been off chasing a couple rouge ghosts around midday when the first wave of Shade's minions attacked… it had never occurred to him to consider what all the kids at Casper High had done…

Phantom swallowed quickly and said "No, no, mind telling me?" He tried for a friendly smile.

Valerie remained cold. "I thought you knew, scum. Isn't that school one of your hang-out spots?"

Danny was about to point out that he only went there (as Phantom, anyway) when he fighting some sort of spiritual apparition, and that that didn't exactly qualify as 'hanging out', but he held his tongue when he saw that Valerie was about to launch into an explanation.

"When those creepy skeleton things attacked, I took charge, of course. I was doing fine on my own," (Phantom raised an eyebrow at this, but thankfully, Valerie didn't see) "until I heard that other kids needed help. Those… _things_ attacked absolutely everywhere. I got some kids- like Dash- to safety, and we all made tracks to get as far away from Amity as possible. It turned out that surrounding towns had been attacked as well, but not as badly as Amity. But Sereneton was in a pretty crappy situation, being so close to Amity and all, and the city had been evacuated by the time we got there. However, we found some kids had been abandoned, or their families had been killed (we even rescued a couple ones who said they were orphans) so we took them in, as well. Soon, our group got too big to survive without a base, so we all hunkered down here. The kitchen had a full stock of canned food, and there's even a supermarket a couple blocks away. Plenty of rooms here, too."

"So… wait a minute." Phantom shook has head, trying in vain to successfully grasp what Valerie had just told him. "Lemme get this straight. You," he pointed at Valerie, fingers by his hips, since his arms were pinned to his sides by the rope, "are leading a group of unlucky and possibly orphaned kids in the midst of a war," he looked around, as if the sense he was searching for was flying around the room, "_without any adult supervision whatsoever?_"

"Yep." was Tony's curt response.

Danny couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief. His parents weren't here. On the other hand, he also felt a little depressed and panicky. _His parents weren't here_. Then where were they? His relief was all too soon becoming hopelessness as the worst set in. _They could be dead_. No. No, he couldn't take that… It wasn't possible…

"Hey..." Tony spoke again, this time sounding a little concerned and confused. "Hey, dude, are you alright?"

Phantom head snapped up. Without actually realizing it, he had been staring at the floor, totally spacing out in depressed-mode.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." Turning back to Valerie, he asked "Are you… are you guys the Human Rebellion?"

Their reaction was enough of an answer to Phantom: puzzlement. Valerie frowned and said "Well… I guess you could call us a rebellion of humans. Wait…" Her eyes narrowed. "You said that like it was title. What do you mean, 'Human Rebellion'?"

Danny would've smacked his forehead if his arms weren't confined in bonds. Of course, these kids would have no idea what was going on, being isolated for this entire time. Whenever a ghost reported an attack from the Human Rebellion, they were always from adults, not kids. In fact, thinking about it now, Danny considered that idea to be absurd. Yes, it did _seem_ cool, and elite force of children would probably be really kick-ass, but this was a war. What's more, not just any war, but one with ghosts hex-bent on killing/enslaving all the humans and generally world domination on the opposing side. A group of twenty-or-so kids didn't exactly have a hope in hell.

But then again… This _wasn't_ the Human Rebellion. Keyword= _wasn't_. That meant his parents could still be alive. Cue sigh of relief, take 2.

Valerie's eyes widened. "So there _are_ more human survivors?" She put on another venomous look and said in a low growl "Are you holding them captive?"

"N- wait, what?" Danny blinked at Valerie, genuinely perplexed. She just rolled her eyes, like he was _clearly_ lying.

"See here, spook, you're probably wondering why I haven't just destroyed you yet. If I remember correctly, we've been in a situation like this before. Same thing, different circumstances, really. _I want information_. About the war, who's in it, and who's trying to stop it, such as this 'Human Rebellion'," (She brought up two hands and did a couple air-quotes for emphasis) "and then _maybe_ I'll let you go."

Danny focused on Valerie for a second. Then, with the confirmation that she was dead serious, he glanced around the room once more. All the kids were either looking nervous or heavily interested, with the lone exception of Tony, who was now cleaning his dirty nails with a pocket knife.

Phantom swallowed as his gaze found Valerie again. This wasn't gonna be fun.

**A/N: ENTER MY LITTLE GROUP OF BASICALLY SCREWED KIDS! MWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAA!**

***ahem* Okay, fun chapter. And I just HAD to have at least one character that I could work with and not worry if i was getting their persona right, so, heeeerrreeeeeeeeeeee's TONY! Aha. He'll be fun, pretty important character as well, if things go as planned.**

**Speaking of that, I have several possible ideas of where this could go. I know what'll happen in the next chapter, but for the story in general, anything's possible. Well, Vald's coming in at one point for sure. And Dani will probablky play a bigger part in this.**

**In case any of you are scared for Danny, don't worry, he won't be staying in Val's sllightly evil clutches for long ;)**

**REVIEW PLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAASE!**

**Bye!~**


End file.
